I looked into the data. This would probably be under DRG 252, 253, or 254 (DRG 252 OTHER VASCULAR PROCEDURES WITH MAJOR COMPLICATION OR COMORBIDITY, 253 OTHER VASCULAR PROCEDURES WITH COMPLICATION OR COMORBIDITY, 254 OTHER VASCULAR PROCEDURES WITHOUT COMPLICATION OR COMORBIDITY)
Covered charges for 2016 ranged from ~$64,000 to ~$110,000, with ACTUAL average total payments ranging $13,000 to $26,000.
This article is using differences in purchasing power parity AND the difference in charges / actual payments to generate an eye-popping headline. At the actual data level, India is more expensive compared to the US.
Hospitals usually lose money on Medicare and that’s part of the reason other payors have to pay subsidy rates. Not saying they pay sticker price they are billed but I doubt 13-26k is the average reimbursement for any procedure that ties up an OR for a full day (according to the article).
Inpatient care for many major procedures are bundled under Medicare. This is actually the reimbursement for the entire hospitalization.
Yes many places lose money in Medicare as it probably reimburses at around 80% of cost but it’s the only data we have, so it provides the closest thing to a national comparison.
My point is that what this article ultimately shows is that the cross border comparison can generate striking numbers but almost all articles like this never place the Indian “cheap” numbers in context.
The medicare DRG data is available here https://www.cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/sta...
Covered charges for 2016 ranged from ~$64,000 to ~$110,000, with ACTUAL average total payments ranging $13,000 to $26,000.
This article is using differences in purchasing power parity AND the difference in charges / actual payments to generate an eye-popping headline. At the actual data level, India is more expensive compared to the US.